Body supproted air circulator



7 July 9, 1963 J. w. MALONE, SR., ETAL 3,096,702

BODY-SUPPORTED AIR CIRCULATOR Filed Feb, 23, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 25 29 INVENTORS i 24 JosW/l/xuaua SR, (J05 D.LHMB

' I ATTORNE-Y July 9, 1963 J. w. MALONE, 'sR., ETAL 3,096,702

BODY SUPPORTED AIR CIRCULATOR Filed Feb. 23, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 20 37 ,Le 67 4 4/ q 4-2 +6 EVE /6 5a '45 67 l34' 4-8 27 24- -36 26 g L,

INVENTOR c/aE W/l/HL a/vE, 8R. /0 0,1. AME

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,096,702 BODY SUPPORTED AIR CRCULATOR Joe W. Malone, Sr., 1905 Douglas St, and Joe D. Lamb, 1001 E. Arkansas St., both of Sweetwater, Tex. Filed Feb. 23, 1961, Ser. No. 91,144 Claims. ((Il. 98-1) This invention relates to a device adapted to be worn on the body for circulating air under garments of the user to parts of the body where the circulated air will most efficiently function for cooling the body.

-More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a supporting structure adapted to be suspended from the neck and disposed against the chest and defining a cavity having an open inner side facing the chest and into which cool air is directed from a fan supported by said supporting structure and powered by a self-contained power source, also carried by the supporting structure.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an air circulator wherein said supporting structure has a conduit portion, in which the fan is mounted, which conduit portion opens into the cavity of said support and externally with respect to garments disposed over said support.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an air oirculator which can be worn either indoors or outof-doors by persons at work or at play or while riding in or driving a vehicle, which is light weight and not bulky, and which leaves both hands of the wearer free.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the air circulator in an applied position;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevational view, partly broken away thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal substantially central sectional view, taken approximately along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4--4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along theline 5-5 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged end elevational view of one part of the device, and

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view of the electric circuit of the device.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the body supported air circulator in its entirety is designated generally 10 and includes a support, designated generally 11. The support 11 includes a plate 12 which is preferably formed of a semirigid plastic having corresponding inwardly turned back side edges forming side walls 13' and inturned rear flanges 14, as best seen in FIGURES 3 and 4. The rear flanges 14 are disposed substantially coplanar and extend only inwardly a short distance to provide a wide opening 15 at the rear of the plate 12 and which extends from end-to-end or from top-to-bottom thereof. The rear flanges 14 are connected to one another by straps 16, of the same material as the plate 12, which span the opening 15 and which are secured at their ends by heat sealing or welding, as seen at 17, to inner sides of the flanges 14. The outer edges 18 of the flanges 14 are rounded or beveled, for a purpose which will hereinafter be described. The plate 12 thus forms a shield as well as a part of the support 11, which shield has a large cavity 19 between the side walls 13. The cavity 19 opens outwardly of the upper end 20 and the lower end 21 of the shield 12 from side-to-side thereof, as defined by the side walls 13. Additionally, said side walls 13 and the Patented July 9, 1963 2 flanges 14 are provided with recessed portions 22, located between the straps 16 and forming side openings or vents.

The shield 12, midway of the side walls 13 and preferably near its upper end 20' and its lower end 21, is provided with a large opening '23 in which an end of a semirigid tubular conduit 24 secured, as by heat sealing or welding, as seen at 25. The conduit 24 extendsoutward- 1y from the shield 12 and has an open outer end 26 and an open inner end 27, which end 27 opens into the cavity 19.

A strip of metal or other suitable lightweight material 28 spans the conduit 24 below its horizontal center and has correspondingupturned ends 29 which conformably engage portions of the inner surface of the conduit 24 and which are secured thereto by headed screws '30 which extend inwardly through said conduit and through the portions '29. As best seen in FIGURE 5, each screw 30 carries two nuts 31 and a washer 32, between which the conduit wall and the portion 29 are clamped, and the heads of the screws 30 are spaced outwardly from the outermost nuts 31. The strip 28 forms a supporting bracket on which is secured a miniature electric motor 33 having a drive shaft 34 extending from its inner end. The motor 33 is of a conventional type capable of being operated by a conventional flashlight battery. A fan 35, preferably formed of plastic, has an apertured hub 36 which is forced onto the shaft 34 and thus secured thereto by frictional engagement to revolve with said shaft. The fan or impeller 35 is supported by the shaft 34 within the inner portion of the conduit 24, as seen in FIGURE 3.

A housing 37, preferably formed of semirigid plastic and of channel shape cross section, as seen in FIGURE 3, is secured to the outer side of the shield 12 above the conduit 24 and crosswise of said shield. The two longitudinal edges 38 of the housing 37 are preferably secured by heat sealing or welding, as seen at 39', to the shield 12, so that the housing 37 is spaced slightly from the conduit 24, as seen in FIGURES 2, 3 'and 5. The housing 37 is open at both ends thereof, as seen at 40, and is sized to accommodate therein a conventional dry cell flashlighttype battery 41 which may be inserted and removed through either end 40.

The battery 41 is retained in the housing 37 by a spring clip 42 having substantially parallel ends 43 -and 44 connected by a substantially straight intermediate portion 45. The portion 45 fits detachably between the conduit 24 and housing 3 7, as seen in FIGURES 2, 3 and 5, and is of a length slightly greater than the length of said housing 37 so that the clip ends 43 and 44 engage across the open ends 40 of the housing.

As best seen in FIGURE 5, an electrical contact 46 extends through and is supported by the clip leg 43. The inner end of the contact 46 engages the negative end 47 of the battery 41 and the outer end of said contact is secured to one end of a conductor wire 48. A contact 49 is connected to and supported by the other clip leg 44 and extends therethrou-gh. The inner end of the contact 49 engages the positive contact 50' of the battery 41. If the spring clip 42 is formed of an electrical conducting material, the contacts 46 and 49 are insulated from the clip legs 43 and 44, respectively, by electrical insulation '51, and a strip of electrical insulating material 52 is disposed against and covers a substantial part of the outer side of the clip leg 44, around the contact 49, the outer end 53 of which projects outwardly therefrom. A switch blade 54 of electrical conducting material is swingably mounted on the clip leg 44 by a fastening 55 and is disposed on the outer side of the insulating strip 52. The fastening 55 is insulated from the clip leg 44 by electrical insulation 56. If the clip 42 is formed of electrical insulating material, the electrical insulating elements 51, 52 and 56 may be omitted. One end of a conductor wire 57 slots 59 near its upper end 20- and beyond the ends of the housing 37. A strap 60*, which may be formed of flexible plastic, has its ends passing outwardly through the slots 59, and said strap ends 61 have longitudinally spaced openings 62 which are selectively engageable with the fas-tenings 30.

The strap 60 is adapted to engage about the neck 63 of the wearer, as seen in FIGURE 1, for supporting the shield 12 at the front of the wearer and with the flanges 14 bearing against the chest 64, asseen in FIGURES 1 and 4. The effective length of the strap 60 can be varied by engaging different openings 62 with the fastenings 30 for supporting the shield so that its side vents 22 are at approximately the level of the armpits. The shield 12 may be disposed under an outer garment such as -a shirt 65 of the wearer and with the conduit 24 protruding outwardly through an open front portion 66 of the shirt, and with the air circulator thus applied, the switch blade 54 is swung from its dotted line to its full line position of FIGURE '6 for completing the electric circuit to the motor 33 through the wires 48 and 57 and through the battery 41 between the contacts 46 and 49. When the motor 33 is thus driven to revolve the fan 3-5, which is rotated counterclockwise, as seen in FIGURE 5, air will be drawn through the end 26 of the conduit 24 and discharged through. the end 27 thereof into the cavity 19 from whence the air will pass outwardly through the open upper and lower ends of the shield 12 and through the side vents 22, as indicated by the arrows 67. The

upwardly moving air will pass around the neck and upwardly over the face for cooling the neck and face, while the downwardly traveling air will flow downwardly toward the waist and around the body. The air escaping through the side vents 22 will be directed toward and under the armpits. Additionally, air flowing into the cavity 19 will be directed against the chest 64 for cooling the area of the body around the heart and lungs. By merely swinging the blade 54 back to its dotted line position of FIGURE 6, the circuit to the motor 33 will be de-energized to stop operation of the fan 35'. Accordingly, it will be seen that the air circulator 10 will effectively function for cooling a large area of the body. It will also be noted that both hands are left free while the air circulator is in an applied position and in use. The air circulator 10 is very light in weight so that it will not be burdensome to the user nor will it irritate the neck and chest which it contacts. The rounded or beveled edges 18 of the rear flanges 14 and the straps 16 will contact the chest while the strap will contact the neck.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may 'be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A body supported air circulator comprising a shield having inwardly turned back side edges forming side walls and rear flanges, said rear flanges being adapted to engage against the chest and defining an open rear side of the shield between said flanges, said shield defining an air cavity, a conduit member supported by said shield having'an inner discharge end opening into the cavity and an exposed open outer inlet end, an electric fan for propelling air through said conduit into said cavity, means supporting said'fan within the conduit, a self-contained current source electrically connected to the fan, means detachably mounting said current source on the shield,

and a neck encircling supporting strap attached to and supporting said shield against the chest of the wearer.

2. A body supported air circulator as in claim 1, said shield having air discharge outlets at the top, bottom and sides thereof communicating with said air cavity.

3. A body supported air circulator as in claim 1, said shield being formed of a semirigid plastic and including outer wall spaced from said rear flanges by said side walls, said conduit being supported by and opening through said outer wall.

4. A body supported air circulator as in claim 1, said current source comprising a dry cell battery, and said means mounting the current source on the shield includin g a housing.

5. A. body supported air circulator as in claim 4, said housing having open ends, and a spring clip detachably engaging the battery terminals through the open ends of the housing and forming a part of the electrical connection between the battery and fan.

Eagle Aug. 25, 1903 Kahn e Mar. 18, 1958 

1. A BODY SUPPORTED AIR CIRCULATOR COMPRISING A SHIELD HAVING INWARDLY TURNED BACK SIDE EDGES FORMING SIDE WALLS AND REAR FLANGES, SAID REAR FLANGES BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AGAINST THE CHEST AND DEFINING AN OPEN REAR SIDE OF THE SHIELD BETWEEN SAID FLANGES, SAID SHIELD DEFINING AN AIR CAVITY, A CONDUIT MEMBER SUPPORTED BY SAID SHIELD HAVING AN INNER DISCHARGE END OPENING INTO THE CAVITY AND AN EXPOSED OPEN OUTER INLET END, AN ELECTRIC FAN FOR PROPELLING AIR THROUGH SAID CONDUIT INTO SAID CAIVITY, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID FAN WITH THE CONDUIT, A SELF-CONTAINED CURRENT SOURCE ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO THE FAN, MEANS DETACHABLY MOUNTING SAID CURRENT SOURCE ON THE SHIELD, AND A NECK ENCIRCLING SUPPORTING STRAP ATTACHED TO AND SUPPORTING SAID SHIELD AGAINST THE CHEST OF THE WEARER. 